J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Before the Securities AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. Securities EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934. Release No. 93807/ December 17, 2021. administrative PROCEEDING. File No. 3-20681. ORDER INSTITUTING administrative . In the Matter of AND CEASE-AND-DESIST PROCEEDINGS, PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 15(b) AND 21C. Morgan Securities LLC OF THE Securities EXCHANGE ACT OF. 1934, MAKING FINDINGS, AND IMPOSING. Respondent. REMEDIAL SANCTIONS AND A CEASE- AND-DESIST ORDER. I. The Securities and Exchange Commission ( Commission ) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 21C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

2 ( Exchange Act ) against Morgan Securities LLC ( Respondent or JPMorgan ). II. In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement ( Offer ) that the Commission has determined to accept. Respondent admits the facts set forth in Section III below, acknowledges that its conduct violated the federal Securities laws, admits the Commission's jurisdiction over it and the subject matter of these proceedings, and consents to the entry of this Order Instituting administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings Pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 21C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order ( Order ), as set forth below.

3 III. On the basis of this Order and Respondent's Offer, the Commission finds 1 that 1. The findings herein are made pursuant to Respondent's Offer of Settlement and are not binding on any other person or entity in this or any other proceeding. Summary 1. The federal Securities laws impose recordkeeping requirements on broker-dealers to ensure that they responsibly discharge their crucial role in our markets. The Commission has long said that compliance with these requirements is essential to investor protection and the Commission's efforts to further its mandate of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.

4 2. These proceedings arise out of the widespread and longstanding failure of JPMorgan employees throughout the firm, including those at senior levels, to adhere to certain of these essential requirements. These employees communicated both internally and externally via personal text messages, WhatsApp messages, and emails on their personal devices. 3. These written communications were sent and received by JPMorgan employees and included messages related to the Securities business of the broker-dealer operated by JPMorgan. None of these written communications was maintained and preserved by JPMorgan, and some were not able to be furnished promptly to a Commission representative when requested.

5 As a result, JPMorgan violated Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act and Rules 17a- 4(b)(4) and 17a-4(j) thereunder. 4. JPMorgan's widespread failure to implement its policies and procedures which forbid such communications led to its failure to reasonably supervise its employees within the meaning of Section 15(b)(4)(E) of the Exchange Act. 5. From at least January 2018 through at least November 2020, JPMorgan employees often communicated about Securities business matters on their personal devices, using text messaging applications (including WhatsApp) and personal email accounts.

6 None of these records was preserved by the firm. The failure was firm-wide, and involved employees at all levels of authority. 6. Moreover, this widespread practice was not hidden within the firm. To the contrary, supervisors , the very people responsible for supervising employees to prevent this misconduct routinely communicated using their personal devices. In fact, dozens of managing directors across the firm and senior supervisors responsible for implementing JPMorgan's policies and procedures, and for overseeing employees' compliance with those policies and procedures, themselves failed to comply with firm policies by communicating using non-firm approved methods on their personal devices about the firm's Securities business.

7 7. JPMorgan received and responded to Commission subpoenas for documents and records requests in numerous Commission investigations during the time period that it failed to maintain required Securities records relating to the business. In responding to these subpoenas and requests, JPMorgan frequently did not search for records contained on the personal devices of JPMorgan employees relevant to those inquiries. JPMorgan's recordkeeping failures impacted the Commission's ability to carry out its regulatory functions and investigate potential violations of the federal Securities laws across these investigations; the Commission was often 2.

8 Deprived of timely access to evidence and potential sources of information for extended periods of time and, in some instances, permanently. 8. Commission staff brought the failure to produce text messages in an ongoing matter to JPMorgan's attention, and JPMorgan identified other recordkeeping failures that it subsequently reported to the staff. JPMorgan now has engaged in a review of certain recordkeeping failures and begun a program of remediation. As set forth in the Undertakings below, JPMorgan will retain a compliance consultant to review and assess the firm's remedial steps relating to JPMorgan's recordkeeping practices, policies and procedures, related supervisory practices and employment actions.

9 Respondent 9. Respondent is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal office in New York, New York and is registered with the Commission as a broker-dealer and as an investment adviser. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co., a global financial services firm incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York, New York. Recordkeeping Requirements under the Exchange Act 10. Section 17(a)(1) of the Exchange Act authorizes the Commission to issue rules requiring broker-dealers to make and keep for prescribed periods, and furnish copies of, such records as necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Exchange Act.

10 11. The Commission adopted Rule 17a-4 pursuant to this authority. Rule 17a-4. specifies the manner and length of time that the records created in accordance with other Commission rules, and certain other records produced by broker-dealers, must be maintained and produced promptly to Commission representatives. The rules adopted under Section 17(a)(1) of the Exchange Act, including Rule 17a-4(b)(4), require broker-dealers to create, and preserve in an easily accessible place, originals of all communications received and copies of all communications sent relating to the firm's business as such.